Sony Xperia Z Ultra hands-on

Sony enters the big leagues with a 6.44-inch screen and the latest Snapdragon 800 CPU

Sony hasn't always found itself ahead of the technological curve when it comes to smartphone internals. Often it's lagged a generation of so behind the competition, giving the likes of HTC and Samsung the first shot at releasing phones running the latest mobile chips. Yet here we sit with one of the very first Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 devices, and above its ginormous screen sits a Sony logo.

The Ultra, as we'll call it, is also a first in terms of Sony's product portfolio. It's the first time the Japanese manufacturer has attempted a phone/tablet hybrid device, and the Ultra's 6.44-inch screen pushes it well beyond the realms of mainstream smartphones. With 5-inch devices now the norm - Sony itself released the Xperia Z and ZL internationally back in February - big screen phones are getting bigger. It's hoped that the Xperia Z Ultra's extremely svelte body will offset some concerns over its usability, however, and at 6.5mm it's definitely one of the thinnest phones out there. Like the Xperia Z, it's sporting a glass-backed design, which gives its chassis a classy, uncluttered appearance.

That said, this isn't what we'd call a mainstream handset, and using the Ultra one handed can be tricky. Aside from its sheer size, this is partly due to the design heritage it shares with the original Xperia Z - that phone was blocky and squarish, and it's ergonomics suffered as a result. The Ultra's thinner chassis goes some way towards compensating for this, as do its new, curvier sides. But for most users, this isn't going to be a device you can easily palm and operate at the same time. In addition, one notable tradeoff that's made in the name of thinness is the rear camera sensor size, which has been bumped down to 8MP, compared to the original Xperia Z's thirteen. It's also disappointing to see LED flash being omitted on a high end device. Sony has however managed to cram in a hefty 3,000mAh battery (non-removable, of course.)

The Xperia Z Ultra's external heft is matched with suitably beefy internal hardware. As we mentioned, it's the first device we've used with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800 SoC, which incorporates a quad core 2.2GHz Krait 400 CPU and a new Adreno 330 GPU. What that means is it's fast - really, really fast, in fact. The device flies through regular smartphone tasks, and from what we've seen it'll destroy most current chips in synthetic benchmarks too. We'll need to spend more time with a final retail device to be sure, but for the moment the Xperia Z Ultra shows signs of being one of the speediest smartphones around.

Sony's "Triluminos" display also impresses. Gone are the days of Sony phone screens offering lackluster colors and poor viewing angles - the company's latest 1080p panel offers rich blacks, wide viewing angles and vivid colors. The Ultra's 6.44-inch panel is right up there with the latest SuperLCD3 and SuperAMOLED offerings.

The device is also waterproof and dust-resistant, and is rated IP55/IP58, an improvement upon the original Xperia Z's IP55/IP57 rating. As such, you'll still have to deal with the plastic flaps which protect various ports, though the 3.5mm headphone jack is exposed and fully waterproof this time around. In addition, an official magnetic charging dock will be available to make your daily charge a little easier. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note series, the Ultra doesn't include is own stylus. However Sony is advertising the device as having drawing support for pencils, capacitive styluses and metal pens with a diameter of more than 1mm. It's not quite Wacom (the technology used by Samsung's Note) but it works well enough.

On the software side we're dealing with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, lightly skinned with Sony's Xperia UI. The software interface hasn't changed too much from earlier incarnations, but it's noticeably smoother than before, and it's closeness to vanilla Android (and use of onscreen buttons) will please OS purists. Atop the latest version of Jelly Bean you get the usual Sony multimedia apps - Walkman for music, PlayStation Mobile, Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited - and new on the Ultra is the preloaded Sony Reader app. Naturally, if you're living in the Sony ecosystem you'll be right at home here.

The Xperia Z Ultra is due for release globally sometime in Q3, and our brief time with the device has left us impressed. This isn't a mainstream phone, but just like the Galaxy Note line it's not really trying to be. Sony's aiming for a heavy hitter with the Xperia Z Ultra, a device targeted at the growing audience of buyers who want a sizeable mobile device - something larger than a phone yet smaller than a tablet. And for the moment, Sony's 6.44-incher is the best big phone we've seen.

So many of us use the larger screen phones more like tablets anyway. I make fewer calls now. Email, plus web and other screen and keyboard intensive Apps dominate my use of my "phone". Because Sony have left out the flash, locked in the battery and have tiny covers over the ports - I would still prefer the Samsung approach. But are Sony simply making a pocketable tablet that many people want?

Sony, you are [--] close to getting me to buy one of your phones. Had they included an active digitizer I would be saving my pennies right now. I like the idea of the Note but I don't like Samsung's design. Arrg! Sooooo close...

I was really hoping this would be worth considering. But no flash? Really? No integrated pen, giant bezels, too thin to put a decent size battery in. Say what you want about Samsung, but there's a reason they're on top...they get simple stuff like this right. Hopefully HTC's attempt will be stronger.

I wish the bezels where a bit smaller, but I do really like the phone. It has some pretty amazing features. Having a water proof phone is pretty neat. The screen is also amazing. I'd like to see how it holds up in direct sunlight.

A flagship phone....released in 2013....that spanks the competition in many areas, and matches them where it doesn't. How in the HELL does this phone get released with NO FLASH? How hard is it to just tick off all the boxes when designing a flagship phone? If Sony had added that simple thing, the only thing most consumers would have to think about would be if they could live with the size of the thing. Now? A consumer has to compromise. Bad move....a really stupid design decision that will definitely cost them sales.

Yeah, I was all set to buy it. But, no flash, kills it for me. It sucks, because it looks to be a great handset. But, I use my flashlight app A LOT, especially those times, when you don't have a conventional flashlight handy.

I sometimes wonder if phones are getting bigger just for the sake of being big without too much thought into it. I mean, big screen with functionality that compliments it is one thing (like dual screen), but big screen for the sake of being big ... I don't know. For example, why can't Android or BB come up with a phone with big screen (4"+) and real keyboard? -OR- Have a real keyboard with virtual letters that can accept different languages?

The battery is too small 3,000 mAh isn't going to cut it. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 had a 720P display and a 3,200 mAh battery and people said it only lasted the whole day and on heavy use you'll need to charge it at least once through the day. This phone has a bigger better 1080P screen that looks very nice and bright but the battery will kill it at around 4PM. Why isn't anyone talking about this? This is a no go. I'll just get an HTC One.

My only real gripe with these bigger phones is lack of attention to the speaker(s). At least HTC did get something right with their front facing dual speakers. My wife's HTC One is loud even at half volume and she uses it to workout and I have to say the sound is amazing. I do like that Sony is trying here but as I said earlier, my only gripe is the speaker(s) and not with just this device but most 'phablets'.

I think you might have mistaken Sony for Samsung. There the only company I know that can launch a flagship device and kill it within a month with another device of a similar name and then take it overboard. I lost track how many S4's are there in the market now???

I've realized choice is a bad thing when it always invades your life. But Samsung has done a good thing, despite the long list above, keeping things simple. I mean: it's as simple as... you want a rugged S4? Active... you want a no-Touchwiz S4? Google edition. etc.

Anyway, this Sony device actually looks really good. The bezel makes it pretty large and no flash might be the dumbest thing though...

Come on .. it boggles my mind that this is even a complaint. In fact it should be a compliment because if offers something for people with different want and needs.

Active is meant for those who wants waterproofing (with the additional bulk and what not), Google edition for those who wants the pure google version (with some lost of features it seems), mini for those who wants smaller version, zoom for those who actually wanted a ... phone with more camera functions.

Now some of these don't make sense to me and I won't buy then (I mean .. mini .. why?) but I am sure I do not represent the taste and preference of the entire human race ... something that I appear to sense from some of you. I am sure that there are at least a subset of humans who might actually like that, however hard it is for me to comprehend.

The only beef I have with them is not announcing the lineup at the same time so that people can make a truly informed choice.